Invention and use in the subject area is known to the public. Throughout this century there has been an ever increasing demand for an efficient and effective method of water sprinkling for home, industrial and agricultural use. This demand has consistently been met with numerous inventions, each improving upon the last and attempting to provide a better sprinkling device. In 1902, Edmond Martin introduced U.S. Pat. No. 699,801, a Spray Nozzle particularly designed for use as a lawn sprinkler. The device was arranged to conveniently secure a plurality of adjustments for varying the character of the water discharge so as to secure a fine spray and also a broad projected sheet of water in the nature of a fountain. This early art wasted a great deal of water as its shower-like downward projection from high above the ground surface allowed ample time for water evaporation and wind displacement to occur.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 1,758,119 to Axel R. Le Moon for a Lawn Sprinkler Nozzle improved upon this art by moving the sprinkling unit from an overhead watering unit to one based at ground level. This device was designed to produce sprays differing in volume and character and also differing in height of discharge point relative to the surface of the ground. It included a spray deflecting attachment for applying to a nozzle for modifying the character and limiting the upward movement of the spray or augmenting its lateral deflection. However, this art still led to much water loss, as the circular nature of its spray meant a large overlap of the sprinkling units in order to cover all the ground surface.
In the 1941 U.S. Pat. No. 2,350,086, Norris and Dorris Young introduced an Irrigating Means employed on the pipe lines of irrigating systems that would improve upon Le Moon's device. The device included four horizontal ring members attached laterally to each other so as to provide an improved sprinkler head which could avoid the problems of uneven water distribution and missed edges or considerably overlapped areas which are often unavoidable with most circular sprinkling units.
Samuel Watkins and James Watson continued to improve upon sprinkling methods with a Spray Nozzle, U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,378 issued in 1947. Watkins and Watson presented an invention that addressed another problem common to circular sprinkling systems by providing a nozzle construction that could be adjusted to spray in a variety of different patterns and angles ranging from full circularity to a small sector of a circle. This eliminated the need to buy several different units to fulfill the needs of different sprinkling angles.
The Static Apparatus for Spraying Liquids, U.S. Pat. No. 3,171,602 was introduced by Pierre Bauchet in 1962. The principal improvement this invention sought to make over prior art was to treat the largest possible surface area with the same apparatus in the form of fine droplets, evenly spread over a surface. The ability to control the water is obtained by mounting a spray cone in adjustable position above the end of the nozzle. The apparatus is screwed on perpendicular to the water inlet pipe, flush with the ground.
In 1974, Malcom Floyd improved upon Watkins and Watson's device with the Sprinkler Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,832. Floyd's device discloses another method for distributing fluid in a spray pattern in a complete circle or any selected segment thereof. This is achieved by means of an upright conduit and a movable cap such that a circumferential row of apertures may be progressively covered or uncovered by movement of the cap.
However, in 1986 Edwin Hunter further improved upon Floyd's device with the Adjustable Sprinkler System, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,285. Not only does Hunter's invention allow for spraying from an angle of nearly 0 degrees up to 360 degrees, but it also allows the height of the opening to be adjusted. The apparatus is comprised of an adjustable orifice sprinkler unit that includes a tubular body member with a rotatable cap mounted on one end. The cap cooperates with peripheral edges of the tubular body member for defining an adjustable arc spray orifice.
The present invention continues forward in the evolution of sprinkling systems, improving upon all prior art. As with several other prior art systems, the present invention allows for adjusting the water flow to any angle up to 360 degrees. It also allows for the adjustment of the height of the water streams and is designed to cover a large surface area. However, with many of the prior inventions, tools such as a screwdriver are necessary to utilize the features properly. The new invention allows for easy adjustment by hand.
And, unlike the prior art which often calls for numerous units placed throughout the lawn to achieve the desired effects, the new invention reduces the number of sprinkling units and underground piping necessary for ample irrigation by allowing several spray nozzles to be simultaneously stacked vertically on top of one another. With the new invention each stacked unit sprays in a circumference larger than the last, thus one nozzle is effectively able to reach a greater area than any prior art. Up to ten nozzles may be stacked on each riser. In addition, the new invention offers means to independently control the water flow.
And finally, the new invention offers greater versatility than all other prior art in that the sprinkler head can be attached not only to any riser, but also to any hose base or retractable, underground irrigational system. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages. Thus it is that none of the prior art offers all of the advantages of the present invention with none of the disadvantages of the prior art. Only the present invention is able to accomplish this.